barrykind
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Daily Meditation
"A place for your mind to dwell."
Don’t Be Controlled By Others
1 Th 2:4 But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not
as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
My friend, until you quit attempting to please those who express criticism of you, you will remain locked in a prison of your own making. Let me get real personal now; have you made it your life's work to change another's opinion of you? Are you determined to prove to them that you're important?
I’ve dropped in today to warn you: “Never allow somebody else's approval to become your goal!” Face it; there are some individuals who may never like you; they may never see your meritoriousness. So what???
Have you considered the fact that when you attempt to please somebody who rejects, or abuses you, you put yourself into bondage to them? You are saying, either by word or deed, “You were correct when you hit me, or left me, or hurt me;” you're allowing yourself to be bound by their opinion, rather than God's. The truth is, when their opinion of you becomes your opinion, you've built a prison inside your soul, holding only one prisoner, you!
You must accept the fact that the person you've spent your life attempting to impress, may never be impressed? When you are prepared to accept that from God's perspective, it no longer matters! When someone is attempting to control you, look them in the eye and say, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.”(Acts 4:19)
In order to deal effectively with others, you must find a way to work alongside them, without allowing yourself to be governed by their opinions of you, or controlled by their moods. Most of all, you must not let their opinions of you become the basis for your self-images. The truth is, God's opinion of you is all that makes any difference.
Ask yourself, “Do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”(Gal 1:10) Once you understand that God's opinion of you is all that matters, you've taken the first step toward being a God pleaser, instead of a human pleaser.
My friend, you “ought to obey God rather than men.”(Acts 5:29) “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”(James 4:4) Seek God’s approval; that’s what counts!
Bro. Russ McDonald
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The HEART of the issue is truly the issue of the HEART!
John 3:3;Mark 8:34-38;James 1:27
Posts: 3529 | From: Orange, Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
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